Canoe slalom: Britain win gold in canoe double

Canoe slalom: Britain win gold in canoe double

British crew Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott powered to gold in a thrilling Olympic canoe slalom double final at the Lee Valley White Water Centre on Thursday.

The slowest of the six qualifiers from the semi-final, the British duo were the first down the surging rapids in the final but surged through the 23 gates in a time of 106.41 seconds - a mark that was to prove unbeatable.

Russia's Khaibulaev delights Putin with gold

Tagir Khaibulaev won Russia's third judo gold medal in London in the men's -100kg on Thursday, thrilling watching Russian President Vladimir Putin who leapt from his seat with his arms raised in celebration.

The world champion, 28, who has not lost an international match since August last year, defeated the champion of four years ago, Mongolia's Tuvshinbayar Naidan.

Khaibulaev only reached the final after a tight contest with Germany's Dimitri Peters was decided by judges after it finished scoreless.

Henk Grol of the Netherlands beat 34-year-old South Korean Hwang Hee-Tae to win a bronze to add to the one he got in Beijing in 2008, delighting a huge Dutch contingent in the crowd.

New Zealand win men's double sculls

New Zealand sprinted to victory in the men's Olympic double sculls on Thursday, powering through on the line to confirm their domination of the event and kick off what is expected to be a strong regatta for the Kiwis.

Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan, the double world champions, had been sitting in fifth place for most of the race before they upped their rate and surged through a tiring field in a thrilling final 300 meters.

Italy's Alessio Sartori and Romano Battisti took silver and the experienced Slovenian crew of Luka Spik and Iztok Cop grabbed bronze after fading in the second half of the race. The Slovenians have now completed the set after winning silver in Athens and gold in Sydney.

The New Zealand duo had started the race as one of the favorites but appeared to have left themselves too much to do before they made their move in front of a roaring grandstand in the final stages of the final.

As they went over the line they punched the air in delight, before crawling from their boat on to the side of the lake to lie flat out.

Image: New Zealand's Nathan Cohen (back) and Joseph Sullivan smile with their gold medals at the victory ceremony after winning the men's double sculls finals rowing eventPhotographs: REUTERS/Jim Young

Harrison wins first U.S. judo gold

Kayla Harrison, who contemplated suicide after being sexually abused by her childhood coach, beat Britain's Gemma Gibbons in the women's -78kg category on Thursday to win the first Olympic judo gold for the United States.

Harrison, 22, the world number two, defeated Gibbons in a close final with two scoring throws.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was in the audience with Russian President Vladimir Putin, commiserated with Gibbons, Britain's first judo medal winner since Sydney in 2000, as she left the mat.

Audrey Tcheumeo won France's sixth judo medal of the Games By defeating Abigel Joo of Hungary for bronze.

Brazil's Mayra Aguiar also continued her country's judo successes, beating Marhinde Verkerk of the Netherlands to take the other bronze, the Brazilian team's third judo medal.

Image: Kayla Harrison of the U.S. fights with Britain's Gemma Gibbons (blue) during their women's -78kg final judo matchPhotographs: REUTERS/Darren Staples

Britain's Ogogo shocks gold medal favorite

Britain's Anthony Ogogo caused the first big boxing shock of the London Olympics on Thursday, upsetting the favorite for middleweight gold in front of an vociferous crowd that included Queen Elizabeth's husband Prince Philip.

Ogogo, whose hopes of making it to his first Olympics were nearly ruined by a serious shoulder injury last year, became the first Briton to reach the quarter-finals after he beat Ukrainian world amateur champion Evhen Khytrov by the tightest of margins.

World number one Khytrov came back from two points down in the first round to level the scores at 18-18 at the end of the bout and after the pair could still not be separated when the five judges' individual scores were totted up, they were each asked to call a winner.

After an anxious three minute wait, the longest for a decision at the Games so far, the 23-year-old Briton was deemed the winner and fell to his knees before leaping around the ring and beating his chest to the delight of a packed house.

The Ukrainian team, shocked at losing the top seed, lodged an appeal which the International Boxing Association (AIBA) said did not mention any specific motivation and was rejected after careful consideration.

Zhang takes table tennis gold for dominant China

World number one Zhang Jike powered to victory over Wang Hao in an all-Chinese men's table tennis final on Thursday, taking China half-way to another clean sweep of golds in its national sport at London 2012.

Zhang, the 24-year-old reigning world champion and pre-tournament favorite, won 4-1 over his compatriot. He celebrated by leaping over the court surround and kissing the gold medal podium and then draping himself in a Chinese flag.

For Wang, 28, it marked a third successive Olympics singles final defeat.